Other Interests

Sometimes I look back and wonder on the other paths I could have taken if my heart wasn't so firmly determined to pursue psychology.

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I. Gemology

(Don't question my questionable choices on why this had to be taken on a calculus notebook.)

In all honesty, I can't remember when I started taking an interest in the study of gemstones.

However, I do remember borrowing fieldguides on gemstones and wildflowers frequently from the school's library from first grade to third grade.

In hindsight, I was glad nobody else wanted to read them.

But I was just fascinated by their color and luster as a child.

Besides, jewels tend to symbolize beauty and classicism in our society - and the nature of valuing beauty is a trait we all have.

Not to mention that they are often rare. When you see something that is not so common, and you know enough about it that it could have some value - then it could possibly be something worth sharing with the world.

I continued to look into certain gemstones such as the "virgin rainbow" as well as read about cuts that I practiced using Cinema 4D modelling sometimes.

And I had also bought some stones from multiple gemstone markets in Japan. In fact, I had received the amethyst (photo) from a gachapon.

In spite of my interest, the fact that I was only interested in jewels because they're shiny is probably not a good reason to consider it as my career. Especially when I consider the fact that gems take a tedious amount of time to polish and cut.

Regardless, of quartz it's still a rather gneiss topic to talk about...

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II. Writing

Now, is that really a surprise to anyone at this point?

The thing is, I would have considered being an author if my parents hadn't drilled into my head that unless I am very successful with my writing (which is highly unlikely) - then I will probably be broke my entire life.

I do remember writing a lot of short stories in primary school. Although they were mostly high fantasy and I can hardly look at them again before wanting to get rid of them - they still made up a rather important part of my childhood.

As a certain Grammarly ad has pointed out, writing's not that easy. And that is unfortunately true. The vision you have in your head rarely comes out onto the page. Especially when you can't really describe a certain emotion or scene you really desire to convey.

It's like having a lake in your head and wanting to show everyone this so other people can admire it, swim in it, or do other fun activities. Except you only have a spoon to transport the lake from your mind into reality. So you're just frantically flicking water out of a lake using a spoon, telling them it would be worth the wait when you yourself aren't even sure how the final product will turn out. More importantly, the reader needs to understand what you're trying to go for - otherwise you might write a fancy complex reveal of a plot and the reader will just go "Wait, what-" because you're terrible at explanations.

I like world building, and I like having a novel written. But I do not like all the tedious effort that takes place in between. You get excited when you think about doing it, and you want it to be finished for people to marvel at. Only to find that you're suddenly tired in the midst of working on it.

And then writer's blocks occur.

But you have to go deeper to overcome them.

Why are you unable to write? Is it fear or rejection? Is it because you are not inspired? Is it just inertia? Are you stressed out from any looming deadlines regarding writing assignments that cause you to freeze up in fear?

Some people will tell you that you should just get on with it. Others will tell you to read or listen to music or watch some movies to get inspired.

Nevertheless, I think it is more important to know why you can't bring yourself to write.

You are the one who knows your own self best. The reason advice doesn't work a lot of times is because the person giving the advice is a completely different human being than the person receiving it. That's why you have to understand why can't you write.

Before you can understand why you can't write, you have understand why you want to write. What is the world going to gain because of you writing? It's not quick fix, it's more introspection, but beating yourself up for not being able to write is never has worked for anyone.

The most common reason for writer's block is fear of rejection or fear of not being good or something of that sort. In such cases it might help to just start writing, because you're never going to get better by not writing.

So just lower your expectations and start writing. Not everything you write is going to be published or good. You don't even have to finish it. Write one sentence. That's all.

It is a struggle to get started, but when you sit down and get started, it is a lot relieving than it looks to be.

As of now, I'll just settle with writing short stories and publishing them on this platform - since it allows me to express my thoughts and creativity in at least one medium.

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III. Astronomy

Now I know that I haven't talked about this with a lot of people, but I had considered pursuing astronomy at one point in sixth grade.

However, I'm bad at mathematics, physics, and chemistry - so that's definitely not an option (especially since they're all required for this career). Besides, psychology appeals more to me.

In the beginning of that school year, one of my homeroom teachers introduced a website called "Astronomy Picture of the Day", where NASA posts a different picture of the universe every day starting from June 16, 1995.

To this day, I still have no idea why that had largely interested me. But it did.

Though as I'm thinking about it, our planet is literally less than 0.00000000000000001% of everything that exists.

Why wouldn't I want to know about the rest?

It's also as simple as the beauty of it. Not just the staggering visual beauty of incredible structures like nebulae or star clusters, it's the beauty of the power concerning chaos and order. Cataloguing even an insignificant fraction of it is one of the most incredible things humanity has accomplished in my opinion.

Just like with gemstones, I remember borrowing a book on identifying stars in the sky in the library. However, I was never able to identify any of them.

And whenever I would ask my dad to help me out (since he had taken a class in astronomy), he would point to a random trio of stars and claim it's Orion's belt.

So a photo of the night sky in my mom's camera roll just remained unidentified for years.

...Until I had a random idea in the middle of the night to look for websites that have people that can help identify stars and constellations in photos.

These were the results when I submitted the photo to a website.

It's been a while. And I still haven't stopped looking at this.

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IV. Floriography

If there was one thing I remembered about my mother before I could have sworn the only thing she cared about me for was my grades, it would be the fact that she adored flowers and would often buy them certain times of the year (ex - birthdays, anniversaries holidays, etc.).

You could say I shared that interest with her.

When I was younger, she would often take me to flower shops. And she would spend her time chatting with the florists on the flowers she wanted (most of the time being hydrangeas, since she loved them most), while I just wandered around and try to identify them (as well as recognize their meanings).

Alstroemerias - Devoted friendships, Mutual recovery

Cherry blossoms - Education, Spiritual beauty

(Purple) Hyacinths - Sorrowful regret

Hydrangeas - Heartlessness / Understanding

(Orange) Lillies - Hatred

Sea lavender - Remembrance

Orchids - Love, Beauty

(Yellow) Roses - Friendship

Aloe - Bitterness, Grief

(Yellow) Carnations - "You disappoint me"

The list goes on, but those are the first ten I can list from the top of my head.

Similar to the other topics above, I just appreciate them based on their aesthetic. Plus, they also have multiple medicinal and stress-relieving properties. Flowers are a mostly inexpensive gift that shows someone was thinking of you, without having to do some over-the-top gesture. Plus generally improve a room with their presence. Literally no negatives.

Color therapy also applies here. The effects of colors on the brain are well-known and flowers elevate our moods through color. Pastel colors are generally more relaxing, while brighter ones colors will are more energizing.

Apart from just flowers, aromatherapy also helps to relieve various pains and psychological stresses. For example - roses contain 2-phenylethanol, which have been proven to contain an anti-depressive-like effect where sympathetic nerve activity was decreased.

Now I know it would be something I'd have fun with. But would I really enjoy it to make it my career for the majority of my life?

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V. Psychic

Okay.

I'm just joking with this one.

But still.

Hear me out.

I was researching Neopaganism (a religious movement that incorporates beliefs from outside main world religions, such as nature worship, witchcraft, etc.) out of curiosity, when I came across a person on eBay selling spell jars (physical manifestations of spells dating back to the 17th century (which often contains crystals, flower petals, etc.)).

Now, what piqued my interest wasn't the products they were selling.

Rather, it was what was written on their bio :

"I am a licensed psychic."

And the first thought I had after reading this was :

"How do I become one?"

Having an ability to communicate with others' inner thoughts and sense future events is cool to have.

But on the other hand, it may be very miserable.

You will learn stuff you don't want to know.

You will learn about things you can't deal with.

If people learn what you can do, let's just say your social life will die instantly.

Nobody would want to be your friend.

People would hide from you out of fear of having their privacy invaded.

You would be lonely forever.

And I knew that I would never be able to put up with a life like this.